


you'd give your eyeteeth just to know the truth

by LovelyLessie



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Gen, Introspection, Self-Reflection, Teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23686258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLessie/pseuds/LovelyLessie
Summary: Something about Keith has changed, and he's starting to wonder what it means. (Set between S2E3-E4.)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	you'd give your eyeteeth just to know the truth

Keith stares hard at his face in the mirror, running his tongue back and forth across the wire behind his teeth as he examines his reflection. He’s never been one for vanity, never cared that much about his appearance except for how Dad used to try to make him  _ presentable _ as a kid, but he’s started to become more aware of it lately, and he’s not sure he likes what he sees. 

He’d noticed the difference maybe a month ago, but he hadn’t thought much of it until now. He’s had braces since he was a kid, after all, and after his top retainer snapped way back when they were still on Arus, he’d known he’d probably start to see why before long. But for the past three days, every time he’s caught sight of his reflection he can’t help but stop and look, and a lump forms in his throat whenever he does. 

He screws up his face, closing his eyes and swallowing hard before he opens them to study his appearance again. His lips draw back in a silent snarl, and he angles his head one way and the other, but it doesn’t change anything. No matter what angle he looks from, he can still see the same thing he’d already realized and tried to pass off until this week. 

His upper teeth are getting  _ bigger _ . 

Okay, not getting bigger, he knows that’s not how it works. But that’s definitely what it looks like, and even if he wouldn’t ever tell anyone else, it’s starting to scare him a little. 

He’d figured at first it wasn’t a big deal. So his retainer broke and his canines are growing in farther, pushing all his other teeth back to make room now that they’re not wired in place. That’s what happens, nothing to worry about - though he’d thought, back when he first noticed, he’d sure hate to have to get a tooth pulled  _ here _ if it started to be a problem. 

Well, his jaw doesn’t seem to be running out of space, but his canines have definitely started to make him look a little like a vampire or something, and he’s actually not sure they’ve  _ stopped _ yet. 

It might even be kind of cool, actually, if the greatest enemy of Voltron and the rest of the known universe wasn’t a bunch of aliens with huge, pointed fangs. For that matter, he hadn’t been bothered by it when he first noticed, or even a week ago. It hadn’t even occurred to him to think about the Galra or whether the new development of his increasingly prominent canines might make him resemble them, and besides, there are probably plenty of aliens in the universe with teeth like a lion’s - all irony of the comparison aside. 

But that was before meeting Ulaz, and seeing the knife that looked like his, down to the same symbol on the hilt he kept wrapped up tight to hide. Before finding out there were Galra who  _ weren’t  _ loyal to Zarkon and his empire, who had been working for centuries to quietly resist the spread of domination across the universe. Who could have come to Earth before and left  _ without _ conquering it. 

Maybe it’s crazy, or stupid, or paranoid, to think the connection goes deeper than the surface level. Maybe he’s overthinking things. If these Blades guys ever were on Earth - and he doesn’t even know if that’s true - they could have left that knife behind, lost it somehow in a fight. For all he knows, they could have been there a century ago, and the original owner of his knife been buried with it. If Galra even have burials, anyways. 

Besides, they’re a completely different species, there’s no reason to believe they’re even compatible with human genetics. It’s a pretty big leap in logic to assume there’s any kind of blood relation, and even thinking of it makes him feel a little like an idiot. 

But the knife tucked under his pillow is the same as the one Ulaz carried, and when he shakes his head and pulls himself out of his thoughts, his reflection is the same, grimacing back at him with sharp teeth nearly an inch long now and curving faintly inwards. 

He presses the tip of his tongue against his lower teeth opposite them, turning his head to watch the light glint off the silver wire wrapped around them. They’re not long or curved like the top ones, but they’ve always been sharp, and even when he still had braces they poked up past the rest of his teeth. He wonders what would happen if he just stopped wearing the retainer. 

For a moment he considers taking it out, but then he thinks about the rest of the team, and what they’d say if they noticed. If anyone else has seen the way his upper teeth have started to become more like fangs, they haven’t pointed it out, but it won’t be any easier to hide it if his lower teeth get that big too. And maybe they won’t make the same connection he has, without knowing about the knife, or for that matter about his mom… but the chance that any of them  _ could _ makes him think of how quick they were to distrust Ulaz, even with Shiro’s endorsement, and it’s a risk he doesn’t dare take. 

He sighs and shakes his head, turning on the tap to splash his face with cold water, grounding himself. Despite the need for caution, Shiro seems as determined to go meet with these Blades as he is, once they can be sure it’s safe. When they get there,  _ then _ he can find out more about the knife, about the Blades, about what a Galra rebel could have been doing anywhere  _ near _ Earth. Until then, he just has to stay focused.  _ Patience _ , he reminds himself as he dries his face and leaves the bathroom, his hands curled tight into fists. He’ll get the chance to find out if he has a little patience. 

  
  



End file.
